Frisker, subs. (old).—A dancer.
1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., ii., 20. At no Whitsun Ale there e'er yet had been Such Fraysters and Friskers as these lads and lasses.
Frivol or Frivvle, verb. (colloquial).—To
act frivolously; to
trifle. [A resuscitation of an
old word used in another sense,
viz., to annul, to set aside].
1883. W. Black, Yolande, ch. xx. 'Mind, I am assuming that you mean business—if you want to frivole, and pick pretty posies, I shut my door on you but, I say, if you mean business, I have told Mrs. Bell you are to have access to my herbarium, whether I am there or not.'
Frog, subs. (common).—1. A
policeman. For synonyms, see
Beak and Copper.
1881. New York Slang Dict., 'On the Trail.' I must amputate like a go-away, or the frogs will nail me.
1886. Graphic, 30 Jan., p. 130, col. 1. A policeman is also called . . . a 'frog, the last-named because he is supposed to jump, as it were, suddenly upon guilty parties.
2. (common).—A Frenchman. Also froggy and frog-eater. [Formerly a Parisian; the shield of whose city bore three toads, while the quaggy state of the streets gave point to a jest common at Versailles before 1791: Qu'en disent les grenouilles? i.e., What do the frogs (the people of Paris) say?]
1883. Referee, 15 July, p. 7, col. 3. While Ned from Boulogne says 'Oui mon brave,' The Froggies must answer for Tamatave.'
3. (popular).—A foot. For synonyms, see Creepers.
To frog on, verb. phr. (American).—To get on; to prosper frogging-on = success.
Frog-and-Toad, subs. (rhyming)—The
main road.
Frog-and-Toe, subs. (American
thieves').—The city of New
York.
1859. Matsell Vocabulum, or Rogue's Lexicon, p. 35. Coves, let us frog-and-toe, coves, let us go to New York.
Froglander, subs. (old).—A
Dutchman. Cf., frog, sense 2.
1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew, s.v.
1852. Judson, Mysteries, etc. of New York, ch. xiv. The funny swag which they raised out of the froglander coves.
Frog-salad, subs. (American).—A
ballet; i.e., a leg-piece (q.v.).
Frog's March. To give the
frog's march, verb. phr. (common).—To
carry a man face
downwards to the station; a
device adopted with drunken or
turbulent prisoners.
1871. Evening Standard, 'Clerkenwell Police Report,' 18 April. In cross-examination the police stated that they did not give the defendant the frog's march. The frog's march was described to be carrying the face downwards.
1884. Daily News, Oct. 4, p. 5, col. 2. They had to resort to a mode of carrying him, familiarly known in the force, we believe, as the frog trot, or sometimes as the frog's march. . . . The prisoner is carried with his face downwards and his arms drawn behind him.
1888. Daily Telegraph, 22 Dec. Whether the 'bobbies' ran the tipsy man in, treating him meanwhile to a taste of the frog's march, and whether he was fined or imprisoned for assaulting the police, is not upon the record.
1890. Bird o' Freedom, 19 Mar., p. 1 col. 1. And then he gets the frog's march to the nearest Tealeaf's.
